Derrick Pierce is a multi-talented performer whose honesty and good nature is well-respected in the business. We’ve talked before and here is much of what he said during our latest chat at the 2016 AVN convention.

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Photo courtesy of Adam & Eve and AVN

When male performers are asked about consent, the response is pretty unified. The guys want to make sure everyone is on board with likes and dislikes before a scene begins.

Sometimes, they will tell you, limits are defined by studio protocol.

Veteran performer Derrick Pierce offers this assessment.

“[Studios] like Hustler or Wicked have their own set of guidelines that typically supersede the level of what we as talent would like, meaning that even if talent is okay with certain things [and] the company isn’t, we have to abide by what the company wants.”

In the case of less restrictive studios, performers will work out their limits before shooting commences.

The Side of Caution

If he is paired with a girl he doesn’t know, Derrick wants to find out what she “is cool with” so boundaries can be set. For example, she might say, “I’m fine with hair pulling, spanking, just don’t slap my face.”

He is there for her, Derrick insists, and will tell his co-star, “if there is anything that you don’t like and you want to stop, just give me a couple of hard squeezes on the leg or the arm and I’ll adjust it so we don’t have to stop.”

Derrick Pierce in the media room

Fortunately, Derrick is aware that after a scene girls sometimes have doubts about what they let happen, prompting him to “err on the side of caution.”

“I’d much rather female talent walk away from a shoot [thinking] ‘I probably could have done more’ than ‘Whoa, that was way too much!'”

Aside from his resume of vanilla shoots, Derrick is an experienced BDSM performer. In bondage scenes, establishing limits is imperative.

He cites Kink.com, where he appears frequently, as a studio that is “very, very strict” about their shoots. They do give performers “a lot more latitude, but with more latitude come more rules,” Derrick adds.

In fact, there is a two-page document on a girl’s limits–what she is fine with and what she is not–that performers hired as dominants “now have to read” and “sign off” on. It’s specific, he says, “probably thirty different items” that include spitting, marking, anal play, and the like.

Derrick notes that the document also has a comment section. A girl might mention “no marking” if she has a vanilla shoot coming up, or “go for it” because her next couple of weeks are open for recovery time.

Finally, everything is “read, signed, counter signed” before going to a production manager who “oversees the paper work.” Next, the webmaster and director also sign off on the guidelines. “Kink is so through it’s ridiculous” Derrick says. (And getting more so, apparently. The March issue of XBIZ reports the company is refining its consent policy.)

“They [the performers] know what they sign up for when the go to Kink. You can’t walk away saying they’re negligent.”

He mentions that the San Francisco studio will give a model partial pay if she decides to bail on a shoot. “They’ll pay you half your rate. I don’t know another company that will do that.”

The Elbow Test

I bring up new girls and possible problems that arise. Are they vulnerable?

“Absolutely!” Derrick declares. “How do you say ‘no’ to things you don’t know you’re okay with or not okay with? Because I’m an experienced performer, when a girl says, ‘I’m cool with everything’ I’ll say something ridiculous like, ‘so you’re cool if I elbow you in the face?'”

She’ll back off, of course, leading Derrick to respond, “‘You do have limits, then?’

That leads to an awareness dialogue that is initiated with, “Well, what do you like?”

“You have to lead them,” Derrick adds, because they don’t understand “the full spectrum of what ‘I’m okay with everything means.'”

Getting through to a girl belongs to the male talent, Derrick believes.

“Help those girls out because they’re not really familiar” with what is expected of them and the shoot. From there the directors step in. Even if a director says little, especially if it’s BDSM, Derrick still assumes responsibility.

“At the end of the day, I’m [either] going to be the one taking care of them, making sure they are okay, or be a part of them going too far,” something he wants to avoid.

“I’d much rather err on the side of caution for the first time.” He lets subsequent shoots determine if the girl wants to go harder.

Derrick with superstar Dani Daniels

The Eyes Don’t Lie

In the final analysis, consent is all about conversation.

“I think that when two people can connect, even if it is on a minimal level, it helps the scene.”

He will ask a co-star, “What puts a smile on your face?” knowing the answer will subtlety show up on film.

“The camera picks up those things. The eyes don’t lie. If you really watch a girl you can see when she’s not okay.” That’s important, Derrick mentions, because “sometimes the cameraman is so involved with other issues, he’s not looking for the intensity or intention of the talent.”

“I always take that responsibility, or try to take that responsibility, to make sure I’m always checking in if we’re doing something out of the norm.”

Then he adds with a smile, “Even if we’re not, girls get tired.”

His suggestion for fatigue? Take a break and resort to a little oral sex. “No director or cameraman is going to say ‘whoa’ [to that],” he chuckles.

It’s a trick top-notch male performers keep tucked away for the right moment.

In adult film, the value of the veteran male performer cannot be overstated. That is why their circle is so small. The best work all the time.

Once you “learn the game,” Derrick Pierce says, “the better you’ll be for talent. The girls will want to work with you because they know that you’re looking out for them.”